I'm briefly checking back in to mention a couple quick things. Football is a bit over a month away and we here at Orange::44 are already jonesing bad for it. While we will have our usual in depth preview articles that we always do come the middle of August, I was asked by the College Football Zealots to do a preview for their great site. They have already torn through many of the teams that make up the BCS and now Syracuse. You can check out my early preview here. Also check out the other previews on their site. It is a must for college football fans.

We also want to give a big congratulations to SU's own Bud Tribbey who was nominated for the 2010 Allstate AFCA Good Works Team. Apparently the "most prestigious off-the-field honor in college football", we couldn't be happier for Bud. Syracuse Football has always done a lot for the Syracuse community as a whole and it's nice that an exceptional student can be recognized for that work. Good luck and congratulations to Bud. The full information about the award and the other nominees can be found here.

Orange::44 is still on our standard summer relaxed schedule for new content (unless someone in the Big East catches a charge), however we'll be back very soon. We have our standard Big East Prospectus planned for next month, along with the standard coverage of the start of the new season. John will be back with his Monday Morning Quarterback column, and we will both be back with new podcasts in the coming year. I'm sure I'll rejoin Sean of Nunes/Magician on the airwaves again as well. It should be another fun year in store for Orange::44 and you fine readers. Until then, enjoy your summer.

The lawdogs of Orange::44 take pride in chronicling the alleged criminal activities of players around the Big East, sometimes unfortunately involving our own beloved Orangemen. However, this story has a happy ending for Syracuse fans, as this is a story about a Pittsburgh Panther finding himself in trouble.

Early Sunday morning, according to a story appearing in the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, Pitt senior defensive end Jabaal Sheard was arrested after a fight on numerous charges, including aggravated assault and resisting arrest. The University of Pittsburgh was quick to respond, indefinitely banning Sheard from all team activities. The newspaper reports that Sheard was involved in a fight with one Edward Parker when an off duty police officer identified himself and told him to stop fighting. As the fighting continued, the officer took out his baton and hit Sheard with it numerous times in an attempt to stop the fight.

Not to be outdone by the escalation in violence, Sheard threw Parker through the glass window of an art gallery store, then continued punching him in the face while he was down on the ground bleeding. The two men were finally subdued by pepper spray.

While this is obviously very early on in the legal process (and police say Parker himself may also be facing charges), you can't help but think that this just got very unnecessarily out of hand. Even in a drunken fight over a girl or whatever, you should know enough to lay off once the cops get involved; or once you throw someone through a glass window; or once he's on the ground bleeding. But no. Sheard kept one-upping the situation. This guy is obviously full or rage. And/or drugs. Time will tell.

What does this mean for Syracuse? Well, I think this, plus the recent arrest of Johnny Patrick of Louisville's defense, points to one thing: the Big East is clearly afraid of the offensive product the Syracuse Orangemen will be putting on the field. These defensive players don't want to be part of highlight reels on SportsCenter, so they figure if they get themselves suspended they can save themselves the embarrassment. At least, that's my theory for now.

Alternate theory, 1B if you will, is that they all know that Delone Carter will be coming back, and they don't want to deal with him. Let's hope that's true.

Louisville Cardinals cornerback Johnny Patrick has been arrested for assault, after an incident with his girlfriend. According to a report in the Courier-Journal, which can be found here, Patrick's girlfriend wanted to see some of the text messages on his phone; he refused to show her, she struggled with him to get the phone, and "she slipped and fell."

The paper reported that Patrick called the police after his girlfriend fell, and when police arrived, they arrested Patrick because the girlfriend had scratches to her knee and elbow. When Patrick appeared in Court for arraignment, he was released on his own recognizance, ordered to stay away from the girl, and is due to return to Court next week.

Patrick's attorney states it was nothing more than a struggle over the phone, and that he expects the girlfriend to request to drop the charges. Since it is an apparent domestic violence case, however, the prosecutor may not be so quick to dismiss the case. As an attorney myself who sees DV cases on a regular basis, I can attest to the cycle of violence; battered women (or men, for that matter) tend to take their abuser back, often times because they rely on the abuser for financial support, or are afraid that using the system to get out of the relationship will yield worse consequences than staying in it.

That said, I tend to believe Patrick. We've all fought with our friends over seeing things on our phones, and I could definitely see something like this happen. For his sake, he better hope it gets dismissed. New Cardinals head coach Charlie Strong has instituted a new atmosphere in Louisville, where he expects people to "treat women with respect." A conviction here would certainly result in a suspension of Patrick from the team, and possibly the University. That's unfortunate for the Cards, who were relying on him to be the leader of their otherwise young defense. It'll be interesting to see how this all plays out.

On a side note, it's not surprising that Strong had to change the attitude at the U of L regarding the treatment of women... what with the great leadership Rick Pitino had been providing.

Next in the list of "Outrageous Emails sent by the SU Athletics Department" is this gem above. It is advertising the 1st Annual Hardwood Anglers Fishing Tournament. If you're up for a charity fishing event in the Thousand Islands featuring some notables from the basketball team, and have the ability to not work on a Wednesday in September, then this event is for you!

From what I can gather, you and three of your friends have the ability to hop in a boat with an SU celebrity and compete for prizes for first fish caught, most fish, and largest fish. We here at Orange::44, as a public service to our valued readers (all of whom I assume are avid fishermen or fisherwomen and have large sums of cash on hand), have decided to bring you the Way Too Early Scouting Report for which celebrity you should choose.

Jim Boeheim - While he may excel at coaching, free throw shooting, golfing, and choosing trophy wives, fishing appears to not be a forte for our beloved coach. Not one to sit in a boat on the lake with a 12-pack, Boeheim might not fully grasp the concept of fishing. If you do choose Coach, however, be sure you don't have any SONAR equipment on board; he's liable to smack it like a microphone if he doesn't like the noise it emits.

Bernie Fine - Clearly the dark horse pick in the draft. Who can't picture this guy wearing a bucket hat and a fly fishing vest? And forget about the 12-pack. He needs a cube. Maybe even a beer ball or a quarter keg. Just make sure he stays seated. 34 years sitting next to Boeheim on the bench and he hasn't rocked the boat, so don't let him do it now!

Mike Hopkins - Hop may be athletic. Hop may be smart. Hop may be quick on his feet. None of these matter when it comes to fishing. But Hop is one more thing; Hop is a dad. If you and your friends know nothing about fishing, Hop is probably your pick. He'll sit you down and explain the finer points of how to put a worm on a hook, how to cast your line, and how to reel it in. Even if he has no idea how. Because that's what dads do. You may not win any trophies with Hop, but he'll take you out for ice cream afterwards. Make sure he washes his hands, though, after you make him hook your worm.

Gerry McNamara - Odds on Favorite to win this thing. Gerry is an avid fisherman. Instead of hooping it up during the off season, he'd sit in the boat with his dad to pass the time. It's true. Look it up. Fish with Gerry. I promise you'll win.

Lazarus Sims - Really? I mean, I don't wanna be that guy, but really? How many former Harlem Globetrotters do you see fishing? Granted, I was impressed seeing Flight Time & Big Easy on The Amazing Race recently, but I don't remember seeing them fishing. Or talking about fishing. But what do I know? I mean, let's face it. This is a limited list of celebrities. He's on it. Either he drew the short stick, or he's got mad fishing skills that people wouldn't expect. I'll give him the benefit of the doubt. Mine That Bird, 50-1 longshot odds.

Very conspicuously omitted from the celebrity list? I don't even have to say his name. I'm sure he'll be present for the trophy ceremony and for that big media event when they display the oversized check to the Jobs Program.

In all honesty, though, if any of our readers is actually planning on participating in this event, please let us know. I'm thoroughly intrigued.